Video: It’s all about your team abilities in Team Sonic Racing

Team Sonic Racing has got its work cut out to somehow match the spectacular Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed that appeared on the last generation consoles. So far things aren’t looking quite as exciting as the previous game did, but SEGA has now released a video showing off the team aspects of the game and why you will be depending on your fellow racers to help you claim the number one spot.

Unlike Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed all the participating characters will be driving cars. Don’t expect bikes or for the vehicles to transform into boats or planes. Therefore teamwork is important. First up is the Skimboost. This feature has your speeding past struggling teammates to get them back into the race by rewarding them with a speed boost, as you pass them at top speed. Slingshot isn’t as much a feature as it is an expected racing element. It’s basically slipstreaming behind your teammate to gain a speed advantage, as we’ve seen in another particular kart game. Bizarrely they have included ‘Rival Takedown’ as a new feature, which is you firing off some weapons to stop foes in their tracks. You see where this is going? It’s very, very expected so far. There are at least a few cool features that definitely sets this apart from anything else we’ve played before.

Item Box Transfer allows you the ability to transfer any item pickup to one of your teammates elsewhere on the track. So, should your friend be ahead of you with a better chance to nail the competition, then a simple transfer of your weapon could mean the difference between winning and losing a race. Lastly is Team Ultimate – collectively build the ultimate meter and, once reached, unleash a huge team speed boost.

We’re a little worried that it’s sounding a bit too simplistic when compared to previous games in the series, but we’ll have to wait for some hands-on later this year to know for sure. Team Sonic Racing is yet to receive a release date, but will be launching on PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One.